July 4th Trivia

1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.

1826 – Both Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and John Adams, second president of the United States, die the same day as John Adams, which happened to be on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
1827 – Slavery is abolished in the State of New York.
1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes the anthem “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.

1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general was born.

1911 – A massive 11 day heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people and many horses and breaking temperature records in several cities.